What are the best framing techniques to build credibility with your audience?

1 Establish your frame

The first step in crafting a successful speech is to establish your frame, the main theme, angle, or perspective. This should be clear, relevant, and consistent with your purpose and audience, while reflecting your values, beliefs, and ethos. To do this, you can use catchy titles or hooks that summarize your main point, provide a thesis statement outlining your argument or claim, use stories or examples to illustrate and connect with the audience, or utilize metaphors and analogies to help them understand and relate to your frame.

3 Reframe when needed

The third step is to reframe when needed, which is the ability to adapt or modify your frame to suit different situations, goals, or perspectives. Reframing can help you overcome challenges, address feedback, or appeal to different audiences. It can also help you enhance your credibility, rapport, and persuasion. To reframe when needed, consider using questions or feedback to assess your audience's needs and expectations. You can also use transitions, summaries, or signposts to signal changes in your frame. Contrast, concession, or concession-rebuttal can be used to acknowledge opposing frames and show why yours is better. Additionally, humor, irony, or satire can be used to challenge other frames or create a positive mood.

4 Practice your framing

The fourth step is to practice your framing, the skill of applying and improving your framing and reframing techniques. Practicing your framing can help you master your message, refine your delivery, and boost your confidence. Additionally, it can assist in anticipating and preparing for different scenarios, questions, or reactions. To do this, you can use self-evaluation, peer review, or feedback from experts to identify strengths and weaknesses in framing and reframing. Rehearsal, recording, or simulation can help test and refine strategies. Examples, models, or mentors can be used to learn from successful or unsuccessful cases. Experimentation, variation, or creativity are effective for exploring different possibilities and finding the best fit. Framing and reframing are powerful tools to shape audience perception, understanding, and evaluation of your message. Utilizing these techniques can build credibility, rapport, and persuasion with your audience so that you can reach public speaking goals.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?